Sermon Text for February 28, 2016"Follow Him" #83-26

As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, "Follow me." And he rose and followed him.

Christ is risen! He is risen, indeed! God loved the world so much He sent His Son to save us. May all who hear this message be given the faith to know God sacrificed His Son to rescue us as individuals. May this faith be granted to us all. Amen.

It was in early in the last century that an East Coast organization offered a bounty of $300 for wolves IF and only IF they were captured alive. That kind of money turned Sam and Jed, along with a lot of other men, into fortune hunters. Day and night the pair scoured the mountains and forests looking for their valuable, and incredibly elusive, prey. One night, filled with frustration and ready to throw in the towel, the men fell asleep. Once again their dreams were filled with all the things they would do and buy after they managed to capture their wolf.

Then, for some reason, Sam was startled. Instantly he awoke, looked around and realized they were in a nasty situation. While they had been sleeping they had silently been surrounded by a pack of almost 50 wolves. Sam knew it was 50 because he counted up the number of eyes being reflected by the fire and divided by two. Moving slowly, he maneuvered closer to his pal. He nudged the man once, twice, three times. When Jed began to stir, Sam leaned over to his pal and said, "Jed, wake up! We're rich."

You know, you just have to appreciate somebody who has that kind of perspective on things. Even though Sam and Jed were in an incredible pickle, they somehow managed to see only the good. According to their way of thinking they were going to come out of this scrape ahead and be rich men.

Now there are a few of you Lutheran Hour listeners who might be thinking that story does not have the ring of truth to it. You may be thinking somebody made it all up. To be honest, I agree with you. No, I didn't make it up but someone else might have.

So, if you aren't too keen on made-up stories, here's another which is based on fact. It begins on December 16, 1944. The Nazis had been run out of the Ardennes and the French folk were getting ready to celebrate a Christmas in freedom. The silent night was anything but silent or holy when hundreds of German artillery pieces opened up, displaying incredible fire power. Following the barrage, 250,000 German infantry, accompanied by 1,000 tanks, came rolling in to reclaim territory which had recently been lost.

By December 20, American troops, under the command of General Anthony McAuliffe, were surrounded in Bastogne. Feeling confident that the Americans would see the helplessness of their predicament, the German commander sent word he was ready to accept their surrender. Brigadier General McAuliffe answered. The letter he sent back read, and I quote: "To the German Commander. NUTS! The American Commander."

That monosyllabic reply has gone down in the history books. What has not been remembered are the words of a young soldier from the South who was also in Bastogne. Being a relatively new replacement, you might expect him to be shaking in his boots. He wasn't. He seemed so calm that, as they sat together at breakfast, one of his comrades asked him a question. For purposes of young ears listening today, I have cleaned up the military language a bit. The conversation went something like, 'You do know the Krauts have us completely surrounded, don't you?' "Eyuup. Them poor dirty dogs." "What do you mean, 'Them poor dirty dogs?' We're the ones surrounded." "Eyuup," came back the reply, "but if'n I un'erstand cirrectly, this is the fust time in this war we kin 'tack the enemy in any which way we wan'." Today, military linguists would say they had a "target rich environment." That private knew, in spite of obvious difficulties, he and his comrades were rich in opportunities to move forward. They could go any direction forward.

I wonder if tax collector Matthew felt rich on the day Jesus passed by his toll booth in Capernaum. Yes, Jesus traveled by, but He also stopped for a moment... a moment in which He looked at Matthew and said, "Follow Me." Those brief words are our introduction to the disciple Matthew. We know incredibly little about his background. We don't know where he was born, or where he went to school, or what kind of family he came from. We do know that he had himself a pretty lucrative job. Indeed, taking taxes on the roads which came together in Capernaum was the kind of job which really kept the shekels rolling in; the kind of job which has almost limitless potential and room for advancement.

How could it not? Working for the Romans, a tax collector like Matthew could set his own fees. All he had to do was send his employer some money on a regular basis and he got to keep the rest. Matthew was set up for life. And don't forget the benefits. Roman soldiers were detailed to watch over him and protect him. Yes, in many ways Matthew was a rich, rich man.

Of course there was a downside to his job. Usually is, isn't there? The very position which was going to make Matthew into a rich man was also the job which would cause him problems. Because Jewish tax collectors were working for the Romans, they were looked upon as traitors. Because they could set their own fees and gouge honest citizens, they were regarded as legally protected thieves. The only person who could give a tax collector a run for his money on the unpopularity scale MIGHT BE a hated Samaritan.

In practical terms that meant that average folks like you and I would never speak to Matthew. People who hate confrontation would walk over to the other side of the street when they saw him coming, while folks whose tempers ran a little hotter felt they would be doing a public service if they stuck a knife in his ribs. There were other complications to being a tax collector. If you were a tax collector, your church wouldn't accept your offering envelopes and you wouldn't be admitted into the temple courtyard with the rest of the men. You might have been a rich man, but everyone's opinion said you were a Benedict Arnold, a traitor, a paid shill in the employ of the nasty and unwelcome Roman oppressors.

Now that you know the situation, you might be surprised to see Jesus stop at Matthew's table and speak to him. You might be shocked to hear the Savior extend the invitation: "Matthew, come along." Scripture reports as if it were almost a matter of fact interaction. "Matthew, come along" That's what Jesus said and the Bible tells us Matthew went. We have no indication that Matthew said "Look, Lord, can I have a few days to think it over?" Nothing in Scripture implies that Matthew had a moment's hesitation. Jesus extended an invitation and Matthew accepted it. Of course, you may be one who is thinking, "Of course Matthew went. Any sensible person would have gone. He had a personal invitation from Jesus, the Messiah, the Son of God, the Anointed One. How could he not have followed the Redeemer?"

Now I ought to point out that you feel that way because you have a few pieces of information which Matthew didn't have. You have heard the Savior's words; seen all His miracles; know why He suffered and died; watched on Resurrection Sunday when He rose from the dead. Matthew had none of those facts. The most Matthew could have known is that Jesus had performed some mighty miracles and made it His business to call people to repentance, forgiveness, and hope. These things could have had a powerful appeal for a man who was destined to spend his life on the outside looking in. The appeal to be on the "ground floor" of Jesus' ministry could easily have intrigued him. If Jesus kept doing what He had been doing, his new life could be wonderful from here on out. That was the upside to following the Savior.

Which implies there was a downside. And there was. If Matthew had opened his eyes, like Sam and Jed, he would have seen he was surrounded by a bunch of wolves. Some of those wolves would have been those folks who believed, 'Once a tax collector, always a tax collector.' For them it didn't make any difference whom Matthew was following. As far as they were concerned, Matthew had the heart of a traitor and the soul of a thief. Then there would be those wolves who, now that those pesky Roman guards were gone, would want to take a bit of revenge for the imagined or real injustices Matthew had done to them.

And what would be the reaction of his old Capernaum friends? They too were regarded as big-time sinners. They also had been banned from polite society. Exclusion by the general public and the fact that they had nothing to lose in the comradeship, had forced these local losers together. If Mathew had thought it through, he might have realized those folks might also turn against him, act wolfish, and start whispering among themselves, "Well, look at Mr. Bigshot, Mr. Matthew. Isn't he all kinds of grand now that he's following the Prophet from Nazareth? He thinks he's some sort of goody-two-shoes disciple. Well, let him think what he wants. We know better. He's a sinner who's just as bad as we are."

Yes, when Matthew got up from the table and walked away without having given his two-week notice, he would have been surrounded by wolves. But Matthew didn't care. Although he didn't know where Jesus' path would take Him and He didn't have any inkling that following the Savior would lead to Jesus' death and his own eventual martyrdom, Matthew didn't care. At that moment following Jesus was more important than anything else; felt righter than anything else; and made him feel better than anything else could. The day would come when Matthew would look back and agree with Paul who said: "Whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count those things as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him."

When Matthew walked away from his job, he didn't care what everybody else thought. He was convinced he was rich spiritually. Let the world criticize him, it made no difference. He was rich. Let them jump on his case. He was right and he was rich and he was so convinced he had made the right choice he threw a party in honor of the occasion. He was spiritually rich enough to run the risk of criticism and taunts so he might introduce his sinner friends to Jesus, the Fellow who had just changed His life.

With Holy Spirit-given faith, Matthew knew something had happened to him which was wonderful and everything else, I mean everything else which once seemed of paramount importance, was now secondary and had been put on the back burner. His Savior had found him and called him. Yes, he had been called away from a job, but most of all he had been called to salvation. Once Matthew had been destined to hell, but now he was headed to heaven. Once his life had been lived without purpose or fulfillment, but now he had been given a direction which was one way and that way was up. Once he had been lost, now he was found. Once he had been blind, but now he could see. That would make a good song, wouldn't it?

Of course a really smart, practical person might have grabbed Matthew by the lapels, given him a good shake, and said, "Matthew, look at the wolves. Look at the people who are going to hate you. Look at the people who are going to persecute you. Look at the people who are going to kill you. Matthew, open your eyes. Look at the wolves." How do you think Matthew would have replied to that? Although it is only conjecture, I believe Matthew would take that person by the lapels, given him a shake, and say, "Why don't you wake up and see just how rich I am. I have everything that is important, that makes life worth living. If you can't see that, you, not me, have the problem."

And if Matthew had done that, he would have been right, just as many millions of others who have followed Jesus, were right. You know, when a pastor sits down to write a message like this, he usually has a target audience in mind. I know this message began that way... and my target audience is anyone whose life right now is headed in the wrong direction and who needs a Savior. That being said, from the very first line of this Lutheran Hour message, I have not been able to shake the feeling that the Lord has some very definite, very specific individual that He wants to reach. No, I'm not a prophet. I don't have any special revelation; I can't be more specific than that. I just feel that God has a target person for this message and right now the Lord is saying to that individual, "Follow me."

Indeed that person might be you. Sure, I know there may be a thousand logical reasons why you should not go, but Jesus still says, "Follow me." You may run the risk of having your family and friends cut you off, but Jesus has invited you to follow Him. You may have to give up an entire lifestyle, but it will be worth it if you obey the Lord and follow Him. Yes, follow Him Who came to this earth for you. Follow Him Who carried all of your sins, all that you have ever done wrong. Follow Him Who was nailed to a Roman cross and died a painful and ignominious death, so you might be saved. Follow Him who calls you to an abundant life, a fulfilled life, a saved life, a life with peace, and power, and potential. Follow Him Who loved you more thoroughly, more completely, more passionately than anyone else ever has or will. Follow Him Who left heaven to win your forgiveness and make sure you never had to go to hell.

Follow Him, my unseen brother, my unknown sister. Let me ask, "How many times have you not felt your life was going nowhere; that it was bereft of joy and was lacking in love? How many times have you felt you were swimming in a sea of unending and limitless darkness, despair, doubt, depression, despondency, and dejection?" Let me ask, "When was the last time you woke up, looked around and said, 'I'm rich in that which is important, the spiritual, the Savior-things of life?'" Today, Jesus stops, looks at you, looks into your heart and sees all the pain and the many problems that are there. He looks and still He says, "Follow Me."

Brother, sister, see what that invitation means. It is forgiveness for every sin of the past and every transgression of the future. It is having a Friend Who will always be at your side; a Confidant Who is always ready to listen to your every thought and prayer. It is knowing you are headed to a mansion in heaven, to an unending reunion in heaven with your Savior and all the billions of others who have also been led to respond to His call.

Today Jesus says, "Follow Me." If you hear Him speaking to you, we would be more than glad to make the introduction. To that end we extend this invitation: please, call us at The Lutheran Hour. Amen.

Announcer: We're hearing now from a 4th grader, by way of his mother. According to mom, this past winter her son was sick a lot and the family couldn't always make it to church on Sunday, so they started listening to "The Lutheran Hour."

Klaus: We're glad they did.

Announcer: The boy doesn't always understand the entire sermon, I'm sorry to say, but he does look forward to hearing these Question and Answer segments and he also enjoys your Daily Devotions.

Klaus: Fantastic. So what's the problem?

Announcer: The mother explains that her son rides the bus to school and recently a boy in 5th grade has started challenging her son about his faith.

Klaus: That's pretty young to have to become a defender of Jesus. Still, I'm not entirely surprised.

Announcer: Mom says her boy is usually able to make the case for faith, as it were, but the other day he got a question he couldn't answer. He said "I bet 'The Lutheran Hour' has the answer so why don't we ask them?"

Klaus: We are honored and humbled at the request. So, what was the question which caused the problem?

Announcer: It's actually an old one. You might have heard this one before. The boy was asked first, "Is God all powerful?" Well, he knew the answer to that one. Of course, God is. But that was really just a set up for the question that followed.

Klaus: Let me guess. "If your God is really all powerful, can He make something so big He can't move it?"

Announcer: Right. How did you know that?

Klaus: I know, because every generation challenges the faith with what they think is the impossible question. You see the logic is: if God can't make something too big to be moved, then He's not all powerful... and if He does create something so heavy even He can't move it, then He's not all powerful. Either way, God loses. Before I try to answer that question, I really have to say it saddens me to hear this.

Announcer: Why is that?

Klaus: Because no 5th grader I know has ever come up with that dilemma all by himself. Someone iscoaching that boy on how to zap our 4th grader's faith.

Announcer: And, there's a millstone in it for them, as well. How do we answer?

Klaus: First, just between the three of us; there are some things God can't do. God can't sin. God can't contradict Himself. While God wants everybody to be saved, He won't force them to love or trust in Him. Oh, here's another thing God can't do: God can't please everybody.

Announcer: But those are not weaknesses on God's part. It merely means that when He sets up a rule, He doesn't break it. If He says, "Faith in Jesus is the only way to be saved," that's it.

Klaus: Absolutely. Well said, Mark.

Announcer: All right. So how about this original question about whether God can make something so big even He can't move it?

Klaus: Okay. Let's deal with it. And right now I'm talking to our young listener. As the years go by, you are going to find people who challenge your faith, just like this 5th grader did. They'll think they've got you confused and questioning your faith. Let me tell you this. These folks that question, aren't that smart. A human being judging God is like an ant trying to figure out how to make a Swiss watch. An ant can't do that. He doesn't have the capability. And human beings don't have the capability to redefine God and challenge Him or understand Him. Never has. Never will. We dare not try to limit God by our own human limitations.

Announcer: Okay. I understand. For example, God made the entire universe out of nothing... at just a word. We can't do that. God raised people from the dead. We can't do that. The resurrected Jesus appeared to His disciples inside a locked room. We can't begin to understand how Jesus did that.

Klaus: Absolutely right. So, the next time this kid asks, "Can God make something so big even He can't move it?" You tell Him, "God can always do whatever He wants." No doubt your pal will ask the same question again and then you say, "What part of 'God can do what He wants' don't you understand?"

Announcer: I suppose that will end the conversation.

Klaus: In my experience, it usually does.

Announcer: We thank our listener for that question. Thank you, Pastor Klaus. This has been a presentation of Lutheran Hour Ministries.

Action in Ministry for February 28, 2016Guest: Pastor Tim Radkey

ANNOUNCER: You're listening to The Lutheran Hour and Pastor Gregory Seltz joins us now for our Action in Ministry segment. Pastor, in today's sermon we heard how Jesus called Matthew, the tax collector, to leave his job and come follow.

SELTZ: Right, Mark, but now we're going to talk about ways we can follow Jesus by staying in the vocations in which God places us.

ANNOUNCER: And to help us gain some perspective on that, Pastor Tim Radkey has written a Bible Study called . He joins us now via Skype. Pastor Tim Radkey, thank you for being with us.

RADKEY: Hey, thanks for having me.

SELTZ: Tim, we all have these childhood dreams of what we'll be when we grow up. At one time, in fact, mine was to be a physicist or a research scientist. And you can say that our job is really part of a much bigger picture. How is that?

RADKEY: Well, I think you would see, Greg, the difference between occupation and vocation. Very often, occupation seems very much like something that you might chase and when we look at vocation, we look at those places that God has placed us in, and something that He has given to us. And so it really begins with God and looking to Christ and remembering we can't serve two masters; remembering Who's the boss.

ANNOUNCER: And how does God use us to accomplish His purposes?

RADKEY: It's like one body with many members, as you remember St. Paul talks about in 1 Corinthians 12. I kind of look at it this way: it's sort of like you really need a farmer. You need a truck driver. You need people who work on the roads. You need stockers. You need cashiers. Everything works together so that you can get food at the grocery store and so we all have different parts but we all function for one purpose.

SELTZ: That's a really good reminder, Tim, of the big picture that our life is not...it's not ultimately about us. So, Tim, how does that change our perspective on work or the different roles that God has given us to play?

RADKEY: I think it changes us significantly. God uses us as His vessels to show His love in the world and to bless others in the world. We, also, in turn are recipients of people working through their vocations that bless each and every one of us also.

ANNOUNCER: Now, how can we be satisfied with the job we've been given; the place in which we find ourselves even if it's not our dream job?

RADKEY: I think, first of all, is just remembering that it's the job that the Lord has given you and it's the station that He has you in at this time and at this moment. Through that job, even if it doesn't seem glamorous or even really enjoyable at the moment, it's still the means by which God's providing you your daily bread and using you to bless others through that.

SELTZ: Yeah, we're really talking about servanthood here and when we talk about vocations, God having us in this place, it might not be glamorous. It might not even be pleasant at a particular moment. So, fill us in; the Bible study does this, what is the proper perspective, then, on these situations?

RADKEY: I think the most helpful thing for us to remember is that God hides Himself in our vocation so that He can work through us. Just as we hear from the Scriptures, "As you did it for one of the least of these," Jesus says, "so you did it for Me" and realize that what we're doing is a holy work.

ANNOUNCER: And that's important because I think it also shows that it's an opportunity for us to encourage others. If you see a friend or a loved one in need, you can actually be Christ's instrument to bring them God's help.

RADKEY: Yes, I think that's a wonderful perspective for us to keep is just to remember that we are God's hands and feet in the world to bless and love others. It's always a privilege to be used by Him for the blessing of others and to love others, and also to be grateful and thankful to Him for how He uses all these other vocations to bless us each and every day of our lives.

ANNOUNCER: Once again, the name of this resource is . It's available on DVD. You can also go to our website to view or download that material for free. It's a great resource that you can use either as a group or as an individual.

SELTZ: We're called to be the hands and feet of Christ in the world today like you were just speaking about. That might be in a lucrative career; it might be serving the needy on the streets, or being a parent or friend you need to be for the sake of others. Pastor Tim Radkey, thank you for helping us to see what it really looks like to follow Jesus.

RADKEY: Thank you so much for having me.

SELTZ: And that's our Action in Ministry segment today, to bless, to empower, and to strengthen your life in Christ for others.

ANNOUNCER: And, once again, the name of this resource is, . You can view or download this material for free at lutheranhour.org. Look for the tab called Action in Ministry. Or call 1-855-john316. That's 1-855-564-6316. Our email address is info@lhm.org.

Please print off and share this $5 RISEN movie coupon* (coupon valid only February 22-25, 2016) with your church members!

If you want to plan an event, please let us know in advance so we can properly schedule employees to help things go smoothly!

ALSO, we would like to put together a video clip to play before RISEN. This will advertise some of the local churches. If you would like to see your church's name on the big screen, we just ask that you email me back by Feb 18 at 5:30pm. We would also appreciate a love offering to help cover the program being used to advertise your Easter Sunday services.

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The mission of St. John's Lutheran Church is to preach the Word of God in its purity and to teach this Word to all people. We do so through the means God has given us, the Sacraments of Holy Baptism and Holy Communion.

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The Lutheran Church Missouri Synod accepts the Scriptures as the inspired and inerrant Word of God, and subscribes unconditionally to all the symbolical books of the Evangelical Lutheran Church as a true and unadulterated statement and exposition of the Word of God.

We accept the Confessions because they are drawn from the Word of God and on that account regard their doctrinal content as a true and binding exposition of Holy Scripture and as authoritative for all pastors, congregations and other rostered church workers of The Lutheran Church Missouri Synod.